Hey everyone. I know I haven't been around for a VERY long time. But I am trying to share this story in as many places as possible, and knowing I have always been welcomed and supported here, I decided to put it up here as well.
This is Chloe, a family friend of mine. She's fourteen years old. This photo was taken at her dance concert in January 2013.
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This photo of Chloe was taken on December 24, 2013.
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Now, it's obviously very clear that somewhere throughout the year, Chloe was diagnosed with cancer.
Around June, she started to experience severe headaches. These headaches started at the back of her head, just above her neck, and radiated down through her neck and up to the top of her head. She also experienced a little nausea, but nothing too serious.
As you would normally do for a headache, she and her mum never thought anything of it. She took painkillers and went about her life.
After struggling through Semester 1 of school, the pain had turned from severe headaches to chronic head pain. Yet every doctor they went to said it was just puberty, stress, hormones adjusting, etc. One doctor diagnosed her with an inflamed C2 neck joint and gave her some medications. But Chloe got worse.
It started to get stressful for Lee, Chloe's mum, when Chloe's personality began to change. She went from a lovely, placid young girl to an awful child that would put most hormonal teenagers to shame.
It was August 4, 2013, when Lee took Chloe to PMH (the children's hospital here in Perth) to get further tests done on her head. Chloe had previously had an MRI, but it was inconclusive, as they only took it from one angle.
After a second MRI, Chloe was diagnosed with a 5 cm brain tumor that was lodged just above her neck, exactly where the pain had been radiating from. On August 6, she had it removed in a very successful surgery.
On August 9, Chloe was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that is always diagnosed in children and adolescents. Despite that, Chloe has an extremely good prognosis. Because over 99% of the tumor was removed in surgery, the radiation would easily kill it off. Chemo is just maintenance. Chloe should be cancer free by the end of April.
She has had radiation. She's had two chemo rounds, the second of which was supposed to start on December 23, but by a Christmas miracle, had to be delayed until the 27th because her counts were too low (meaning she got to stay home for Christmas).
While her prognosis is excellent, it is a hard road. She is in and out of hospital every time she spikes a fever. She's not on good terms with the chemo; it makes her horribly sick and gives her awful headaches.
I'm posting this here so that even more people can pray and send love and positive thoughts to Chloe.
As of today, she is feeling very well. I will keep this thread updated as often as possible with her condition.
This is Chloe, a family friend of mine. She's fourteen years old. This photo was taken at her dance concert in January 2013.
This photo of Chloe was taken on December 24, 2013.
Now, it's obviously very clear that somewhere throughout the year, Chloe was diagnosed with cancer.
Around June, she started to experience severe headaches. These headaches started at the back of her head, just above her neck, and radiated down through her neck and up to the top of her head. She also experienced a little nausea, but nothing too serious.
As you would normally do for a headache, she and her mum never thought anything of it. She took painkillers and went about her life.
After struggling through Semester 1 of school, the pain had turned from severe headaches to chronic head pain. Yet every doctor they went to said it was just puberty, stress, hormones adjusting, etc. One doctor diagnosed her with an inflamed C2 neck joint and gave her some medications. But Chloe got worse.
It started to get stressful for Lee, Chloe's mum, when Chloe's personality began to change. She went from a lovely, placid young girl to an awful child that would put most hormonal teenagers to shame.
It was August 4, 2013, when Lee took Chloe to PMH (the children's hospital here in Perth) to get further tests done on her head. Chloe had previously had an MRI, but it was inconclusive, as they only took it from one angle.
After a second MRI, Chloe was diagnosed with a 5 cm brain tumor that was lodged just above her neck, exactly where the pain had been radiating from. On August 6, she had it removed in a very successful surgery.
On August 9, Chloe was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that is always diagnosed in children and adolescents. Despite that, Chloe has an extremely good prognosis. Because over 99% of the tumor was removed in surgery, the radiation would easily kill it off. Chemo is just maintenance. Chloe should be cancer free by the end of April.
She has had radiation. She's had two chemo rounds, the second of which was supposed to start on December 23, but by a Christmas miracle, had to be delayed until the 27th because her counts were too low (meaning she got to stay home for Christmas).
While her prognosis is excellent, it is a hard road. She is in and out of hospital every time she spikes a fever. She's not on good terms with the chemo; it makes her horribly sick and gives her awful headaches.
I'm posting this here so that even more people can pray and send love and positive thoughts to Chloe.
As of today, she is feeling very well. I will keep this thread updated as often as possible with her condition.